Saturday, 6 December 2014

Being a Delhite ,I will talk about Delhi facts and figures here for the sake of convenience and relevance too.

Delhi roads are the most dangerous roads across the country as judged by road accident figures.

From the year 2008 to 2013 about 12,300 people died in road accidents in Delhi.

In the year 2013 alone 1,820 people lost their lives in road accidents .

Delhi alone had 7,566 road accidents in 2013.

Every day on an average 5 persons do not return home because they die on the roads of Delhi .Out of these 5 people dying daily , 4 are either pedestrians or two wheeler drivers and the rest are four wheeler drivers.

Mumbai had 25,000 cases of road accidents in 2013 and 500 deaths in road accidents ,wheres Delhi had 7,566 road accidents and 1,820 deaths due to them .

Now that the gravity of the problem is in front of us ,we can shift our attention to how best to tackle this problem.

The first step - Driving schools should be licensed and proper syllabus should be followed .The first step is to teach safe driving and also the traffic rules and regulations .

The driving license --In India you can get a driving license even if you do not know how to drive for as low as Rs 1500 .It is very important to finish the role of middle men and touts .

Rules for safety have always been there , what is lacking I think is -Enforcement of laws .

No letting off the hook for Rs 100 bribe .

Drunken driving should be heavily punished and accurate breathalyzers should be used .

More Trauma centres and well equipped mobile vans/ambulances to be kept in the vicinity of highways and signal free roads.

Seat belts and safety helmets to be used always ,some states have not made it mandatory .

Airbags should be mandatory in all four wheelers that can reach a speed of above 80 kmph .

Driving licences should be suspended for at least six months for repeat offenders .

I am glad that some corporate houses are also promoting road safety issues like The Nissan Motor Co., Ltd., which conducts the Nissan Safety Driving Forum (NSDF) in India as part of its safety driving promotions . NSDF encourages drivers and passengers to wear seatbelts through interactive activities with them.

They have already conducted drives in 3 metropolitan cities and are planning to cover another eight cities in 2014 .

Though the government and NSDF are doing their bit by sensitizing the population towards safer driving norms , as citizens and motorists we have to understand that following the rules is not something that is done to avoid getting fined .

I have seen youngsters and even pillion riders chugging a helmet in their laps which can be hastily put on in case one sights a Traffic policeman and once out of sight the helmets are taken off .

Everybody should understand that safety begins from us .We have to change our mindsets first .Our responsibility comes first and the Government comes later .Rules are for our own safety and breaking them does not make us braver or smarter rather it just makes us more vulnerable .
So please switch off your cell phone ,take your foot off the accelerator , enjoy your ride and reach home safely .By doing so you are not just saving your life but many others' lives too .